Newark Blacks Say Irvington Police Way Out Of Bounds

IRVINGTON, N.J. — There was a shooting here a couple of weeks ago. A white Irvington cop killed an unarmed black teenager from neighboring Newark.

Actually, the shooting did not occur in Irvington. It happened just over the border in Newark, and therein lies a story.

Irvington police, most of whom are white, routinely cross the township line into Newark, which is predominantly black. Complaints of harassment are common.

The police say pursuit of suspects inevitably takes them over the line. Critics say the police just want to make sure Newark blacks don`t come into Irvington.

The irony is that Irvington, once a white ethnic middle-class suburb, is rapidly turning black itself.

A densely populated town of 60,000, Irvington has long been a haven for upwardly mobile ethnic groups escaping Newark, New Jersey`s largest city. First there were Irish, then Germans, Poles, Jews, Italians and now blacks.

Sitting on Newark`s southwest corner with sturdy housing stock, decent schools and proximity to city jobs, Irvington is a natural first step out of the inner city.

Nonetheless, the speed of the change has amazed people here.

In the 1970 census, blacks made up 4 percent of Irvington. By the 1980 census, their numbers had jumped to 38 percent and now, officials estimate, blacks are approaching 60 percent of the township.

Virtually the only whites left are senior citizens, most of whom live in three high-rise projects. The schools are now predominantly black and in desperate need of expansion.

``Irvington has gone through tremendous change. It`s the most rapidly changing community in the county by far,`` said Peter Shapiro, the Essex County executive.

While Irvington`s population has changed, however, its police force has not, a point underscored by last month`s fatal shooting. With only 12 blacks on the 156-person force, the police have become the focus of complaints from the township`s burgeoning black community.

The Rev. William Rutherford, president of the Irvington NAACP, said the influx of blacks into Irvington has ``caused the police department to become more aggressive and more tense and to overreact.``

``They are very insensitive to the black community,`` he said. ``I`ve witnessed beatings of persons suspected of being involved in car thefts.``

He recalled an incident in which he approached a theft scene where he said a policeman had allegedly beat a suspect.

``He placed his hand on his holster, as if to make sure I didn`t get involved in the scene. Then, as I left, he said, `I hope your car is next.` `` Irvington police have also stirred controversy by using dogs for routine street patrol, which is considered offensive by many blacks with memories of how dogs were used against civil rights workers in the South in the 1960s.

``That`s one way of saying: `We`re not going to have blacks in our town,` `` Shapiro said. ``There was a racist idea behind it.``

For their part, the police deny charges of brutality. They say they have tried to recruit blacks, but are hampered by Civil Service rules and low turnover. And they defend dogs as effective law-enforcement tools.

There is something else distinctive to Irvington police: They come when called and come fast.

Irvington`s reputation for responding quickly is well known in Newark, where police have been dogged by slow response times. As a result, people along the Irvington-Newark border often call Irvington police first, regardless of where an incident occurred.

The border is in fact rather ill-defined, cutting back and forth across a poor black and Hispanic neighborhood with no signs to indicate where Newark ends and Irvington begins.

``The border is kind of crazy,`` said Irvington Police Lt. Steven Palamara. ``Sometimes people down there don`t know.``

The shooting incident typified that confusion. A woman called Newark police complaining she had been harassed by two black men. Newark police responded, but they said because the incident occurred in Irvington, she had to call the Irvington police. They then left.

When Irvington police arrived, they saw two men matching the description of the assailants. They gave pursuit, stopping them on the Newark side of the line.

While one of the teenagers was being frisked, the police report said, he moved his arm and hit the policeman`s hand. The officer`s gun went off, fatally wounding the teenager in the back.

The killing prompted a public uproar. The district attorney and the FBI entered the case, and there were renewed calls for more cooperation between the two police departments.

Meanwhile, there has already been a subtle change along the border. According to Newark residents, the Irvington police don`t cruise by their side of the border much anymore.